A New Normal
by Anx123
Summary: Post-Oregon story, E/O Olivia's home and wants to fix things between herself and Elliot.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first fanfic, so I'd appreciate any comments or criticisms, thanks.**

She leaves the precinct blinking away tears. She's only been gone six weeks and Elliot has already replaced her. Her partner. For better or worse.

_Yeah right_, she thinks.

Seeing Elliot act so comfortable around that woman, touching her, rubbing her shoulders. They hadn't that amount of physical contact in the entire six years of their partnership.

Not that she cares.

Because she doesn't.

Why should she care if there is something going on between Elliot and his new partner?

She's the one who left.

The one who couldn't handle her developing feelings for the man she shouldn't be so attached too.

She continues walking to her apartment building through the cold Manhattan streets.

She's missed this. Getting lost in the crowds of people. The city lights.

The air in Oregon was refreshing, but after awhile, all of the greenery and nature became boring for her. She's always been a city girl.

When she reaches her building, she drudges up the stairs and reaches her apartment. 4D. She unlocks the door and takes in the sight before her.

It looks exactly the same as it did before she left. Comfortable, and a bit untidy, just the way she likes it.

She walks to her bedroom and studies herself in the mirror. These six weeks have changed her. Her dark brown hair now scattered with copper highlights, and her curves have filled out a bit. So much of her has changed these past few months, it's almost as if she doesn't recognize herself anymore. It'll take some getting used to, diving head first into her life.

She strips down and steps into her bathroom getting ready for a shower. The scalding water is therapeutic. It's almost as if the water is burning Persephone off of her skin.

After her shower, she makes herself some tea and pulls out her cell phone. She's had it re-activated and finds 25 new voicemails/text messages.

All of them from Elliot.

Her hand trembles a bit and she almost drops the cell phone.

Why would he leave so many messages?

She debates whether or not to listen to them, afraid of what she may hear.

Finally, she decides to listen to one of the voicemails.

"Olivia, I'm sorry if I did anything to upset you, I just.. I act so stupid sometimes and I just want you back. As my partner. And I just... I need to know you're alright, okay?"

Olivia deletes all of the remaining messages and sets the phone down.

How could she let him believe that HE drove her away for all this time?

She doesn't want to think about Elliot or this situation or work anymore so she changes her clothes and heads out, determined to get rid of some of the pain.

Elliot sits down at his desk and glances at Dani. Being with Dani has numbed the pain of Olivia's absence. He doesn't even know why it's affected him this much. Cops switch partners all the time.

But of course, with Olivia everything is different.

These six weeks have been the most emotionally draining of his life. He finally signed his divorce papers and he's even gone on a few dates. He also kissed with Dani. His new partner.

Sometimes he thinks about what would have happened if he signed his divorce papers while Olivia was still his partner.

But he tries to push those thoughts out of his mind.

"Hey Elliot, a woman dropped by today asking for you," Dani informed him.

"Really? What was her name?"

"Uh, she didn't leave one. But she did go in and talk to the Captain."

Elliot got up and walked to Cragen's office.

"Hey, Dani said somebody came here asking for me earlier, and she came to talk to you?"

"Oh, uh yes. Look. Olivia dropped by, but she asked me not to tell you."

"Why would she do that?"

"She just returned from her undercover stint with the FBI. She's not ready to come back yet. She needs time."

Elliot just stared and absorbed what Cragen had said.

"Look, why don't you and Dani head home for the day, it's pretty slow around here anyways."

With that, Elliot walked back to his desk and grabbed his jacket.

"Hey, Cap says we're done for the day, I'll see you tomorrow Dani," Elliot says before giving her a weak smile and walking out.

All he wants to do tonight is try and forget about Olivia. But at the same time he wants to see her and know she's alright.

She's been sitting in this booth for about half an hour now, nursing her now-warm beer, and she can't shake Elliot from her thoughts.

She tries telling herself its just all of the co-dependency that comes with being partners.

She puts her head on her folded arms and just thinks about how her life might've been if she never became a cop.

She might be married with children, living some fairy tale life.

But maybe she's just destined for loneliness.

Elliot walks into the bar scans the room, when he sees a brunette woman sitting at a booth in the back. Even with her newly grown hair and filled out curves he recognizes her.

Olivia.

He considers leaving since she obviously didn't want him to know that she's back in New York, but he figures that he deserves some answers, so he slowly makes his way over to the booth.

As he approaches, Olivia lifts up her head and see him. Her breath hitches and Elliot stops before her and says, "Hey"

"Hi"

"I uh- I heard you stopped by the precinct today.."

"Uh yeah, did Cragen tell you?

"Yeah- well no- Dani did first, and then I asked Cragen about it. But that's beside the point. Why didn't you call me? Why did you even leave?"

"Look, I' m sorry, but I just- I just got back and I really don't want to talk about this now. Can it wait a bit?"

Elliot gives in because honestly he's just so fucking glad to see her, and he's never been able to refuse her.

"Yeah. Sure. But we will need to talk later."

"Yeah. I know."

"Can I sit down?"

"Oh yeah, sure."

He slides into the booth across from her and studies her. She's fidgeting uncomfortably and keeping her eyes downward. She can't help but notice how good he looks with his new fitted T-Shirts and bulging muscles underneath.

"So, did you want something else to drink?" he asks her.

"Uh sure I'll take another beer thanks."

When their drinks arrive they take a sip right away, avoiding each other's eyes. Olivia sits there studying Elliot. She notices the circles under his eyes that have seemed to darken since she's been gone, she notices his new clothes, and then she lets her eyes scan over his hands. That's when she notices it.

His wedding ring is gone.

"So, you're not wearing your wedding ring?"

" Uh no, I uh- Kathy and I are divorced now."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry, but, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, thanks but it was time. We both needed to move on. She deserves to be happy."

"Well, so do you Elliot," she says softly.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Well-" Olivia starts to slide out of the booth "-It's getting pretty late and if I stay here any longer I may fall asleep on you," she jokes.

"Oh yeah, okay, here, I'll walk you home"

The two of them head out the door down the street towards Olivia's apartment building.

"So, what was it like working undercover?"

She sighs, "It was.. Different. I was always worried about blowing my cover and being convincing enough and not screwing up the investigation. And Oregon is a lot different than New York. My handler was also a bit of an asshole."

The thought of her having another partner doesn't it well with Elliot, and Olivia can already see his jaw start to clench.

"It made me SVU, and you guys.." Olivia said as she bumped her shoulder slightly into his.

He smiled , "So when are you coming back?"

"Ah, well I don't think I'll be back for awhile, I mean I don't think it's really up to me anyways."

"What are you talking about? You're the who chose to leave."

They had just reached her apartment and Olivia turned to face him.

"Look, I'm not sure if I'm even ready to come back yet. I need to figure some things out first, and there isn't even a spot for me!"

"What do you mean? You're my partner!"

"Not anymore. Dani is." She whispered.

With that she turned towards the front door of the apartment building and blurted out, "Hey, Elliot, I'm sorry I left, I'm sorry I've screwed our partnership and everything else up. Just give me a few days and we can talk okay? I just need everything to get back to normal."

Without waiting for a response, she unlocked the door and walked inside, and once again Elliot was left all alone.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you to all those who followed/favorited and reviewed!**

**I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this story, but I'll try to update as soon as I can. **

The sun was rising over New York City and Elliot was just walking up to his apartment. It had been three days since he had seen Olivia, and he was desperate to see her again. When he opened the door, he threw his keys on the side table and kicked off his shoes.

After a whole weekend at work, Elliot was exhausted. He stripped down to his boxers and headed straight for bed.

Two hours later he woke up to a faint knock at the door. Thinking it might be one of his kids, he rubbed the grogginess from his eyes and walked to the door.

When he looked through the peephole, he was surprised to see Olivia at the door, not one of his kids.

He opened the door quickly and said "Hey, Olivia."

"Hi," she noticed Elliot's state of undress and glanced behind him "Hi, I'm sorry is this not a good time? I can come back later.."

She turned to leave when Elliot quickly grabbed her arm and rushed out, "No, no. I'm not busy come in, come in."

He quickly ushered her through the door and led her to the couch.

"So, I'm just going to go out some clothes on, I'll be out in a sec," he said.

"Yeah, okay."

Olivia took a good look around his apartment. The last time she'd been here was just after he moved in. Back when his separation was only meant to be temporary. Back when he was still married.

But now the apartment looks much more homely and Elliot seems to be much more settled here. She stands up and walks towards the bookshelf on the other side of the living room. There are a few pictures there, some of his kids, and a few pictures of his whole family. Then she notices the last photo. A picture of her and Elliot on his birthday last year, when his kids had surprised him at the precinct.

She misses those moments. When she was able to be around Elliot without this gnawing feeling inside of her. This feeling that she wants more from him. The feeling that she felt all six weeks that she was undercover.

She found herself missing the little things about him, like his bright blue eyes and how she could practically read his thoughts from a simple glance, or the way he was so protective over her and all his loved ones. He was a natural father figure, and as much as it might infuriate her sometimes, he looks out for her.

Elliot walks out of his bedroom and notices Olivia staring at the photo of the two of them.

"I like that picture of the two of us. I don't think I ever thanked you for calling my kids down there," he said as he walked towards her.

"Do you want anything to drink?"

"A beer if you have one, thanks."

"Yeah, sure. So, how are you? Are you back in Computer Crimes or do you have some time off?"

He pulls two beers from the refrigerator and hands her one before sitting on the other side of the couch.

She takes a quick sip and replies "I had this week off to kinda get my life back together. I start back tomorrow morning."

"Ah okay."

They sit there for a couple minutes just reveling in each other's presence.

"Okay, so I came here to try to fix this thing between us, so maybe if we don't end up working together again, we can at least be friends? I just- first of all, I just want to say I'm sorry for leaving so abruptly. I know I could have left you a note or something just to let you know I was leaving, but I.."

Her voice falters a bit before continuing, "Things were already a bit shaky between us and I didn't want to make it worse."

Elliot just stared at his bottle and started "Look, yeah, I know you could have told me you were leaving again, but I mean, I didn't exactly make it too easy for you to do that. So for that, I'm sorry."

Olivia looked up and gave him a weak smile, "Thanks, El."

She glances at her watch and begins to stand up "Oh man, I'm sorry but it's getting late, I should probably get home now."

She heads towards the door and Elliot follows.

"So, will I see you around sometime?"

"Uh yeah, I hope so. I have some paperwork to drop off to Cragen this week so I'll try to catch you before I leave."

"Good, and look- about Dani.."

Olivia just shakes her head and says "No need to explain- someone had to take my place, right?"

She looks up at him and he can see the pain in her eyes.

_"No one could ever take your place Olivia."_

She feels her face start to warm up and tries to dismiss his comment, "Well, okay I better go. See you, Stabler."

And with that, she was gone.

When she finally hailed a cab, Elliot's words came back to her mind, _No one could ever take your place, Olivia. _She knows he was just trying to reassure her that she should come back to SVU, but it was nice to hear that he would still prefer her over Dani.

The next day, Olivia was back at work in Computer Crimes. Computer Crimes was a lot less stressful than SVU had been. No more calls in the middle of the night. No more gruesome rape incidents or cases that bring nightmares for weeks. She even had normal work hours now. It was nice, but she still felt incomplete. Like she was missing a piece of herself.

The week passed fairly quickly and next thing Olivia knew, it was Friday. She was walking out of the precinct when her cell phone began to ring.

"Benson" she answered.

"Hey"

"El, uh hey, what's up?

"Well I actually get to leave early today, and I was wondering if you had any plans for tonight."

"Oh, no I'm not doing anything. Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out or something. Maybe grab some dinner?" He asked hesitantly.

She smiled to herself, sensing his nervousness " Yeah sure, that sounds good. Where should I meet you?"

"Why don't I just pick you up? We can decide then, if that's okay?"

"Okay, so I'll see you at 6?"

"Sure thing, see you then Liv."

Olivia hung up the phone and headed towards her apartment. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't excited to see Elliot again. Especially outside of work.

When she reached her apartment she walked straight to her bedroom to change. She was pulling on her boots when there was a knock at the door.

She opened the door and greeted Elliot, "Hey, come in. Let me go grab my wallet and we can leave."

"Okay, sure thing."

Elliot looked around the apartment and noticed a picture of a dark-haired man with his arm wrapped around Olivia's shoulder, sitting on the stand next to the couch. He looked closely and figured that it was taken in Oregon, and that they both looked pretty friendly towards each other. _Had she met someone in Oregon?_ _Was she in a relationship now?_ He didn't even want to think about that.

Ever since Olivia left he's felt this indescribable longing for her. He's not in love with her. He doesn't even know if he wants to date her, but since she's been back he feels his stomach churning and this nervousness that he's never felt around anybody else in a long time.

Olivia finally walks out of her bedroom, "Okay all set, where were you thinking of going?"

"I was thinking of this hole in wall diner on the West side. I've eaten there a few times and it's really good."

Olivia nodded and said "Okay then."

With that they left her apartment and drove to the diner.

The car ride was silent yet comfortable and after about 15 minutes Elliot pulled up to the curb and parked. When they walked in, they slid into a booth near the back of the diner and took a look at the menus.

"So, Stabler, do you recommend anything?" Olivia asked.

"Hm.. Well I suppose it depends what you're in the mood for. The burgers here are delicious but I'm really in the mood for breakfast."

"It's almost 7 o'clock at night and you want to eat breakfast?" Olivia exclaimed.

"Yeah, I wanna do things differently tonight," Elliot said as he winked at her.

As they ordered their food Olivia asked "So, how are the kids these doing these days?"

Elliot's face lit up as he answered "Oh they're doing great! They're all doing pretty well at school, and even Dickie is keeping his grades up. Nothing to complain about"

"That's good to hear. They must get their brains from Kathy," she teased.

"Hey, now-" He started to say.

He was cut off by the waitress who delivered their food.

"Mm well this looks pretty good," said Olivia.

"See, I knew breakfast for dinner would be a good idea," Elliot responded.

When they were finished eating, Elliot insisted on paying the bill and then they walked outside.

When they reached Elliot's car, he said "So it's only 8:30, do you wanna go grab a drink or something?"

Olivia smiled and said "Yeah, sure."

"Okay, cool, there's a bar right down the street from here if you're okay walking for a few minutes."

Olivia rolled her eyes and said sarcastically "Yes, Elliot, I think I'll be okay."

They walked down the street side by side, both of them unconsciously walking closer and closer until their shoulders were brushing up against each other. When they walked into the bar, they noticed that it was pretty crowded so they found two stools to sit on.

After an hour of conversation and few beers, Elliot turned to her and said "Look, I know you didn't want to talk about this, but I'm dying to know, what did I do to make you leave?"

Olivia sighed, "Look, I- you didn't do anything wrong, it was me. I needed a change. Can we just drop this subject now?"

"Okay.. Well why don't you tell me more about Oregon? Did you meet anyone there?" Elliot asked, thinking about the picture he saw in her apartment earlier that night.

"Well, yeah of course I met people, I was infiltrating an Eco- terrorist group."

"That's not what I meant. I mean, did you meet any men there..? It's just- I saw that picture in your apartment, is he a new boyfriend or something?"

Olivia just shook her head and chuckled "Oh no, that was my handler Dean Porter. Why Elliot? You jealous?" she teased.

Suddenly feeling a little relieved, Elliot scooted a bit closer to her, "Oh no, just curious. I like to keep up on my partner's life." He quipped.

Hearing him refer to her as his partner, Olivia flinched and said "Yeah, well, I'm not your partner anymore, so you really don't have to."

She turned around and motioned for the bartender to bring her another beer.

Elliot grabbed her arm turned her towards him,"Hey, look I'm sorry, but just because we don't work together anymore doesn't mean I don't care about you anymore. I thought we were still friends."

"Yeah, I mean, I guess you're probably one of my closest friends" Olivia mumbled.

"See! So I'm allowed to know about your life right? I'm sorry for making things uncomfortable, I didn't want this night to be like this."

"It's fine. What did you want this night to be? Did you just want to fix things between us, try to convince to come back or what?" She questioned.

Feeling a little more courageous form the alcohol he said, "I just wanted to spend time with you. Is that okay? I missed you. I went from seeing you all day everyday to not seeing or hearing from you for six weeks."

A little surprised from his response Olivia cleared her throat and looked down, "Okay, yeah that's fine."

The bartender handed her her beer and Olivia immediately took a quick sip.

"So, is there anyone new in your life? Got any new girlfriends you wanna tell me about?"

"Well, I've been on a few dates, but nothing too serious," he said.

He studied her face for a minute, noticing how her eyes seemed to darken when he said that. Was that jealousy in her eyes? Why would Olivia care if I went on a date? Probably the same reason Elliot cared so much about whether or not she had a new boyfriend.

His eyes shift from her eyes to her face, and then to her lips. He's never really had the chance to look at her freely, and notice her beauty. Her silky brown hair that looks as if he could run his fingers through it all day. But the one thing he could look at all day is her smile. He rarely sees it with all the horror around them at work, but when he does, it's amazing.

He catches her eye, and she notices him staring at her. With his blood thrumming with alcohol, he starts to lean in to kiss her. She closes her eyes and he touches his lips to hers. She immediately responds and puts her arms around his neck as they begin nipping each others lips and pushing their tongues into each other's mouths. Elliot pulls her closer to him and strokes the sliver of skin between her jeans and her sweater and she begins to moan into his mouth. By now Elliot is so turned on Olivia must feel his growing arousal against her thigh.

Suddenly realizing what they are doing, Olivia quickly pulls away, and wipes her mouth.

"What- What the hell was that?" She hisses.

"I'm sorry, I guess I just got too caught up in the moment, and you look amazing tonight- well all the time," he stumbled out.

Blushing furiously, Olivia turns away and takes a deep breath.

"I think I should go."

"I'll drive you,I've pretty much sobered up and it'll save you the cab fare."

"Okay," she says slowly.

They walk out the bar and Elliot drives her home. The car ride is awkward even with the radio playing.

When they each her apartment building Elliot parks the car and says, " Hey, I'll walk you in,"

"Oh no, I'll be fine. I'll see you later El," Olivia quickly steps out of the car and walks towards her building.

Before she can get in, Elliot runs up to her and says,"Hey look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to screw everything up. I have no idea where that kiss came from and-"

Olivia cuts him off and puts her hand in his forearm,"It's fine, lets just forget about the whole thing and ill see you sometime okay? It was nice to see you again anyways."

She offers him a weak smile and turns around to walk up the steps.

"Hey!" He yells from the bottoms of the porch.

"Blink your lights, okay?"

She rolls her eyes and smiles, "Sure."

He watches her walk through the door and out of his sight and wonders how he could have messed up this night and whether or not he's ruined his relationship with Olivia.

As she climbs into bed that night, she can't get that kiss out of her mind. Sure, she's kissed plenty of men in her lifetime, but those kisses didn't even compare to Elliot's. The way his mouth fit perfectly against hers, and how he knew exactly where to touch her. It all felt too right. Why did she even pull away?

But she knew why she pulled away. She knew that Elliot was still in love with Kathy. How could she even compare to the woman who gave birth to his four children? _Did he even want her like that? _Or was he just so drunk and desperate that he would have kissed anyone at that point? From what she could tell, Elliot was enjoying that kiss just as much as she did.

Pulling back her blankets, she tried to put all these thoughts out of her head. _Why was she so caught up on this?_ But deep down, she knew why. She knew why she didn't want to pull away from his kiss, and now she realized what that gnawing feeling that she felt when she was around him was.

_Attraction_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So I wasn't too sure where I was going with this story for the longest time, and I had a lot of problems writing this chapter. Apologizing in advance **

Ch. 3

As he drives home, Elliot can't get Olivia out of his mind. When did he start feeling like this? Like he is so empty when she's not with him? He thinks about how beautiful she is. Not just her physical appearance, but her soul. He's never met anyone so passionate in his entire life. He doesn't understand why she thinks so little of herself and puts others' needs before her own. She is so fucking perfect and she doesn't even realize it.

When he gets to his apartment, he pulls out his cell phone and contemplates whether or not to send her a text message.

But what would he say?

_"Hey Liv, I can't get you out of my mind and all I want do is get my hands and mouth on you again"_

He's not an idiot. He knows that Olivia doesn't jump head first into anything concerning relationships. She's experienced so much heartbreak in her life that she can't risk being hurt again. The last thing he wants is to scare her away again.

So he shuts his phone closed, places it in his bedside drawer, and climbs into bed to get ready to sleep.

It's been a week since they shared that kiss in the bar, and Olivia has been trying to push it out of her mind ever since. She convinces herself that it was just the alcohol and that Elliot would never had done that if he was sober.

As much as she may have wanted him to.

All week she's been having dreams about Elliot, and she can't seem to get the feeling of his hands all over her out of her mind.

Monday morning Olivia heads into work, takes a seat at her desk, and turns on her computer. Her captain, Captain Mitchell, greets her as she walks in and calls her into his office.

"Good morning Olivia, go ahead and take a seat," the Captain says as he motions towards the chair in front of his desk.

"SVU needs some help tracing a cyber predator and I'm sending you to go help them out with this case. I understand you transferred from SVU, so I figured you'd be the most helpful to them. They'll brief you when you get there, so I'll see you when the case is closed."

Olivia just nods silently and heads out of the captain's office. Nervousness builds in her stomach as she makes her way up to her old unit, and she feels conflicted over seeing her old partner again. The man who kissed her a week ago. The man who has embedded himself under her skin over the past 8 years. The man that's started haunting her dreams for the past week.

She walks through the doors labeled 'Special Victims Unit" and immediately sees Captain Cragen.

He walks up to her and greets her, saying, "Good morning Olivia, it's great to see you again. I really appreciate you coming in to lend a hand with this case, it's a tough one."

Olivia smiles and responds "Oh no problem Cap, it'll be a nice change to riding a desk all day."

As she turns toward the rest of the squadroom, Olivia immediately makes eye contact with Elliot. Her insides seem to go numb and she can feel a slight tingle run through her body. He smiles at her, and she brings up her hand in a slight wave and walks over to his desk.

"Hey, Elliot," Olivia says casually as she approaches his desk.

"Hey, looks like we're going to be working together huh?"

"Yeah, seems like it."

"Look, I'm sorry about what I did last week, I just-"

Olivia cuts him off, waving her hand and says "No, don't worry about it, let's just get through this case and then we can talk."

Two days later, it's nearly 2 am and Olivia is sitting at her desk trying to finish up the paperwork for the case, when Elliot walks in from the breakroom. He sees Olivia with her pen in her hand and her head on the desk fast asleep. He walks slowly over to the desk and lightly touches her shoulder to try to rouse her. The case had been exhausting, and he knew that Olivia would be wiped out.

"Liv," he whispers as he lightly shakes her shoulder.

He takes a good look at Olivia and he thinks that she's never appeared so vulnerable as she does now. Her face seems relaxed as her dreams are likely plagued with gruesome case details. Seeing her like this, Elliot's never felt a greater need to just gather her up in his arms and protect her from the horrors of the world. But he shakes away these thoughts because he knows Olivia would kick his ass if she ever heard him say this.

She moans softly and starts to cover her face with her arms.

"Olivia, " Elliot says a little bit louder, and Olivia opens her eyes and turns to groggily look at him.

"C'mon Olivia, it's late. This paperwork can wait a few days. Let me drive you home."

"Hmm?" She groaned and picked her head up off of the desk and stretched her arms over her head.

Elliot chuckles and holds out his hand to help her out of her chair. As Olivia stands up, Elliot hands her her coat and leads her to the elevator down the hall.

As they walk through the parking lot to Elliot's car, Olivia breaks the silence, asking him, "Have the cases become any easier? Or does it never get any better?"

Surprised by the randomness of the question, Elliot sighs and says "I don't know. I think if anything they've become worse. It's hard enough dealing with the depravity on a normal basis, but when you left, I just…" He drifts off, looking away as he unlocks the car for the both of them.

As Elliot starts the car, Olivia reaches over and stills his hand, "You just what, El?"

He takes a deep breath and starts "Look, I don't mean to sound like I'm blaming you for getting out of SVU, I mean I'm glad you don't have to see this kind of thing anymore, but it's been a lot harder than I imagined it would be not working with you. I mean, we were partners for almost 8 years! And now I have to deal with this shit on my own, and I realize how much I took you for granted."

At a loss for words, Olivia looks at him and says "I'm so sorry El, but you know you can talk to me about this stuff still, right? I mean, just because I don't work in SVU anymore doesn't mean I forget what it's like."

Elliot just stares out the window and replies "You say that now, but there was a reason you left SVU, and I just don't want to subject you to the details again."

She gives him a weak smile and says "But it's not about whether or not I want to hear the details anymore, it's about whether or not I want to be there for you."

Elliot turns to give her a weak smile and quickly pulls out of the parking lot taking in what she has just said. Olivia pats his hand and brings it back into her lap as they sit in a comfortable silence for the drive home.

When they reached her apartment, it was almost 3 am, and Olivia decided to invite Elliot up for some coffee. When they walked into her apartment, Elliot walked straight into the living room and collapsed on her couch.

"Thanks, I probably would've fell asleep at the wheel if I didn't stop."

"No worries. Why don't you just crash here for the night? Your apartment is across town and we have the next few days off anyways, so you're welcome to stay if you'd like."

He stretched out on the couch and turned to look at her in the kitchen.

"That'd be great, I really appreciate it."

"Okay, let me just grab you some blankets. Feel free to use the shower in my bathroom or whatever you want around the apartment."

Nearly an hour later, after both Olivia and Elliot had showered and said goodnight, Olivia was lying in her bed unable to fall back asleep. Suddenly she felt way too warm under the covers, so she shoved them off of her and just layed on her sheets. The apartment was silent, and she could only hear the light rain falling outside. She turned onto her side and looked out the window. The lights of New York City were so different from Oregon, and she still wasn't use to this change. Just as she had gotten used to camping out under the stars and falling asleep to the sounds of nature, she had been shipped back to the concrete jungle, where it was never completely silent. She listened for a few seconds trying to see what she could hear from the living room. There was so much she didn't know about Elliot, like what he wore to sleep (if he wore anything at all), whether he slept on his side or his stomach, or whether or not he snored. But honestly, she had never thought about these things until tonight. Why was she suddenly desperate to know all of these little details about Elliot? Attributing her unusual thoughts to her lack of sleep over the past few days, Olivia rolled over to face the wall, forcing herself to fall asleep.

Still wide awake and feeling a bit thirsty by now, Olivia quietly got out of bed and tried to tip-toe to the kitchen without waking Elliot up. As she reached up to grab a glass of water from the cabinet, she slipped on the cool tile beneath her feet and dropped the glass on the ground. The loud smash caused Elliot to sit straight up. He had heard Olivia shifting in bed for the past hour, and just knowing she was awake in there had kept him from falling asleep himself.

"What's wrong?" Elliot asked, as he quickly made his way over to her in the kitchen.

"Damn, I slipped and accidentally dropped this glass on the ground. Sorry for waking you up, just go back to sleep and I'll just quickly clean this up."

"Nah, I'm wide awake now, I'll help you out." he said.

He looked around her feet and saw all of the glass splinters surrounding her. Suddenly, he placed his hands on her slim waist and lifted her onto the island countertop behind her.

"Wait, what are you doing?" she asked with her eyebrows raised.

"It's dark, and I don't want you cutting your feet on the glass," he said, before carefully stepping into the hallway.

As he walked away he called out "Hey, do you still keep a broom in the cupboard back here?"

"Yeah, it should be the first one on the left!" she replied.

Sitting on the counter, Olivia had a perfect view of Elliot's back from the hallway. She noticed that he's taken off his white shirt and he's now only in his boxers. She studied his toned back and noticed that he's much more muscular and toned than he was before she left (not that he needed it; he's always been quite fit.) As she waited for him to come back, she thought about everything that was happening tonight. It was as if they had both forgotten about the awkwardness of their kiss and they had entered this new zone of familiarity. They had never done this before- the whole "best friends crashing on each other's couches" thing.

After he found the broom, Elliot returned to the kitchen, carefully sweeping the glass into the pan and dumping its contents into the trash. When he finished, he stood up and looked at Olivia. She looked so small sitting up on the countertop, wearing a thin tank top and pajama shorts.

She looked up at Elliot's eyes and when she realized he was staring at her, a deep blush developed across her face, visible even in the dark room. She had never seen his eyes look so dark before. It was almost a lustful look in his eyes as he studied her body.

Elliot stepped even closer and leaned against the counter with his arms on either side of Olivia, his gaze still set on her.

Starting to feel uncomfortable under his scrutinizing stare, Olivia shifted a bit and joked, "So, is it safe to come down yet?"

Elliot smiled and glanced down at the floor quickly, and then returned his gaze to Olivia.

"Well, I'm not sure yet, we can't be too careful," he said before quickly scooping her up in his arms and carrying her to the couch.

"Hey! What are you doing-" she started to say, trying to wiggle out of his arms.

Elliot just tightened his hold on her and placed her onto the couch. Then he walked back to the kitchen, grabbed her a glass of water and handed it to Olivia.

She took the glass from his hand, and said "Thanks, but I'm perfectly capable of using my legs"

Elliot just smiled and sat on the couch, leaving very little room between himself and Olivia. Olivia handed him the remote and said "Why don't you find something on tv to watch, it might help us fall asleep."

Elliot took the remote and flipped through the channels until he found some channel showing reruns of "Seinfeld." As the television droned on, Elliot felt his eyes start to droop shut, and he looked over to find Olivia fast asleep with her body contorted in a strange position. Careful as to not to wake her her up, Elliot slid over to the other side of the couch, carefully laying Olivia's head in his lap and allowing her legs to stretch out. He gently swept Olivia's hair out of her face and leaned back into the couch, finally falling asleep to the sound of Olivia's gentle breathing.


End file.
